Sparrows feels like the quintessential coming-of-age film, and therefore hit me as quite familiar and not all that original. I suppose it was nice to see that there are parallels in the way we grow up in America that show up in other parts of the world as well. Change all the dialogue to English and I could believe that this entire film took place in the US (with only a few minor cultural differences.) Ari is definitely a relatable young man, and I appreciated that he wasn't the cliched rebellious teen. He did his best to go with the flow despite the fact that he was losing any stability in his home life. Perhaps it's a bad thing that I found him so likeable, because that made the misadventures that befall him a terrible struggle to get through.
There are a number of people who do wrong by our protagonist, and it never feels like something he deserves, which is a type of story that always irritates me. Some of the stuff that happens feels quite bleak, and the ending doesn't resolve much of anything. There is a slice-of-life feel to the story that made it seem less like there was progression or resolution in the plot, and more like we were just watching a snapshot of a time in this young man's life. That lack of drive or focus on a traditional story structure made the entire experience a bit underwhelming for me. To be fair, it's not a style of movie that appeals to me all that much in the first place, but the acting was good and the story was told in a genuine way that felt authentic. For those who are fans of a heavy coming-of-age drama, Sparrows would be a treat, I'm just not one of those people.
